The Mandalorian may take place before the end of Star Wars: Rebels

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

SPOILERS for The Mandalorian. With so many stories in the STAR WARS franchise, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint exactly when they take place in the timeline, but we do know that The Mandalorian takes place five years after RETURN OF THE JEDI. The most recent episode featured the return of a character first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but in the grand tradition of confusing STAR WARS timelines, The Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni has revealed that this appearance may not be the most chronologically up to date for the character.

As we know, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) made her live-action debut in the latest episode of The Mandalorian, but our last glimpse of the character arrived in the epilogue of Star Wars: Rebels where she joined forces with Sabine Wren to search for Ezra Bridger. At the time, it seemed as though this took place not too long after the destruction of the second Death Star, but while speaking with Vanity Fair, Dave Filoni teased that it's possible The Mandalorian may take place before that particular part of the epilogue

That's not necessarily chronological. I think the thing that people will most not understand is they want to go in a linear fashion, but as I learned as a kid, nothing in Star Wars really works in a linear fashion. You do [Episodes] Four, Five and Six and then One, Two, and Three. So in the vein of that history, when you look at the epilogue of Rebels you don't really know how much time has passed. So, it's possible that the story I'm telling in The Mandalorian actually takes place prior to that. Possible. I'm saying it's possible.

Dave Filoni obviously isn't about to confirm anything, but as Ahsoka was searching for information on the whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawn (last seen disappearing into parts unknown with Ezra) in The Mandalorian, it's possible that her reunion with Sabine will come after she's learned something more concrete and is ready to help Sabine search for Ezra. You can check out a review of the latest episode of The Mandalorian from our own Alex Maidy right here.